<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>Moonlight by fauxtales</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28012191">Moonlight</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/fauxtales/pseuds/fauxtales'>fauxtales</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Becoming Human Again [7]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Kingdom Hearts (Video Games)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst, Established Relationship, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Kissing, M/M, Post-Kingdom Hearts III, Recovery, implied PTSD, soft</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 20:49:12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,879</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28012191</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/fauxtales/pseuds/fauxtales</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>The moon always reminds Lea of Isa.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Axel/Saïx (Kingdom Hearts), Isa/Lea (Kingdom Hearts)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Becoming Human Again [7]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1890835</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>37</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Moonlight</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The moon always reminds Lea of Isa. Ever since they were kids, people would compare them to the sun and moon: Lea with his shock of red hair and frankly explosive personality was the sun; Isa, quieter, darker, gentler, was the moon. It was a comparison that made perfect sense, and Lea never thought to question it. By the time he did get around to thinking about it, it just made all the more sense.</p>
<p>Isa is like the moon. Ever changing in his way, slowly but surely. A cycle as consistent and familiar as the phases of the moon. He is the light in the darkness, a gentle light, one that may not be enough to reach everyone and pull them from the shadows, but enough to brighten Lea’s life even in the darkest of moments. It’s a comfort that Lea has fallen in love with through the years, over and over again.</p>
<p>Staring up at the moon now, Lea thinks that it’s one of the few aspects Isa didn’t lose as Saïx. Certainly it became twisted, an obsession with the moon and Kingdom Hearts on Saïx’s part, a connection that did more harm than good, but even then it was something familiar. Lea remembers finding Saïx in the Grey Area or sitting in his bedroom window, staring up through the glass at the false moon that hung in their false sky. The moonlight would play silver on Saïx’s hair, pulling out a sort of glow from it and Axel would lean against the doorway, transfixed. For all his faults, for all the distance between them, Axel still found Saïx beautiful. The most beautiful person he had ever laid eyes on.</p>
<p>Lea thinks that Isa is more beautiful now, with a slight smile playing at his lips and the evidence of his slow healing clear in his expression, but at the time they were both too twisted to see the cracks. Saïx was a fierce sort of beauty, dangerous and threatening, the glaring light of a full moon that keeps you awake late into the night; Isa is softer, a gentle glow from the waxing crescent, not quite full, but light enough to let you see through the darkness. A guide in the sky to keep you from tripping over your own feet. The moonlight still pulls out strands of silver in Isa’s hair, but now Lea threads his fingers through it rather than hanging back, eager to touch and remind them both that the distance between them has finally closed.</p>
<p>Isa smiles softly up at Lea. They’re in the back yard of their small home on the edge of Twilight Town’s residential district, a blanket spread out below them. Lea sits with his legs out in front of him, Isa’s head laid on Lea’s thigh. They came out here to eat dinner in the cooling fall air, though they finished eating nearly an hour ago. Now, they sit together comfortably, watching the moon rise over the tops of the trees. Well, Isa watches the moon. Lea is too busy watching Isa.</p>
<p>“You’re so beautiful,” Lea breaths, petting through Isa’s hair. The warmth that brings to Isa’s face makes him smile all the more, pure adoration on his face. Isa looks back up at the moon, clearly too embarrassed to look Lea in the eye. He’s still not all that good at taking genuine compliments. It’s adorable.</p>
<p>“If I didn’t know better, I’d think you had a crush on me.” Isa is clearly going for teasing, but there’s a strain in his voice that makes Lea giggle.</p>
<p>“What? A crush on you?” Lea leans down to press a kiss to Isa’s forehead, then whispers in his ear, “Never.”</p>
<p>That gets a laugh from Isa. “Is that so?” One hand reaches up to tangle in Lea’s hair, preventing him from moving away as Isa shifts to lay on his back. Lea is tugged down and when their lips meet in a lazy kiss, Lea thinks that he could melt into the air and be perfectly content. It’s a gentle kiss, soft with familiarity and warm with comfort. It’s nothing like the kisses Axel and Saïx shared in the moonlight; desperate, violent things that often tasted of sweat and blood. Lea likes this so much more.</p>
<p>When they finally pull apart, Lea feels breathless. Isa must be feeling similar, if the slight pant of his breath is any indication. Lea straightens up, rolling his neck around as he laughs softly. “Not the most comfortable position, I gotta say.”</p>
<p>“I don’t see how that’s my fault,” Isa comments, settling more comfortably on Lea’s leg. He stares up at the moon and Lea sees its light reflecting in Isa’s eyes. Blue-green eyes.</p>
<p>“Yknow, the moon used to scare me,” Lea says. The words tumble from his mouth before the thought has properly formed in his head. For a moment they catch him up; even Lea doesn’t really know where he was going with that. But Isa is staring up at him with shock and growing concern on his face and Lea needs to say something. “I-I mean… It scared me when you stared at it so much. Well, that’s not exactly it, but… uh…”</p>
<p>“Lea…” Isa pushes himself up, concern creasing his forehead and between his brows. He gets himself between Lea’s sprawled out legs, one hand cupping Lea’s face. Lea can barely look at him, uncomfortable heat rising to his face as he realizes he ruined the moment.</p>
<p>“It’s nothing, nevermind,” Lea backtracks, trying to brush Isa’s hand and concern away. Isa isn’t having it however, his expression turning stern as he opens his mouth - to say what, Lea isn’t sure, but he is sure it’ll be something logical about how talking these things out is good for recovery. The exact kind of thing Lea has said to Isa a million times. Lea doesn’t let him get the words out. “Okay, yeah. It’s something. Just… let me gather my thoughts.”</p>
<p>For a moment, Isa looks like he wants to argue. Then he shuts his mouth, giving a small nod. He runs his hand up through Lea’s hair, a comforting gesture that makes Lea realize that they both seem to have an obsession with each other’s hair. He supposes it’s one of the only things that never changed much even when they were Nobodies, a feature that never went away and couldn’t really be twisted. Lea leans into Isa’s touch, appreciating the slight scratching of nails on his scalp.</p>
<p>Finally, Lea takes a breath to speak. “As Saïx,” Isa tenses at the name, but Lea doesn’t pause to acknowledge it, “you always stared up at the moon. Well, you did that before too, but then… it was different. The way you looked at it, as if there was nothing down here that mattered… it scared me. Not to mention the way it reflected in your eyes. You always seemed just… a little less you.” Lea pauses, biting his bottom lip. It’s a hard thing to confess. It makes his heart ache to think about, to remember the fear that ran cold through his veins the first time Axel looked at Saïx staring up in the moonlight and could only see the berserker. There’s a lump in his throat now, making it difficult to speak. Isa waits patiently, his expression soft and serious. Both hands have fallen into his lap and Lea reaches out to take a tight hold of them. Isa squeezes back. Lea continues.</p>
<p>“Sometimes, the light would hit your hair just right and turn it silver.” Lea can’t meet Isa’s eyes, can’t bring himself to look at Isa’s face. “You would look so much like him. I didn’t know… at the time, I thought it was a strange comparison but… You don’t now, though,” he quickly adds, staring up at Isa desperately. “Not at all. You only look like you. But at the time.” Their hands are a twisted knot between them. Lea stares at them, trying to find the right words. “At the time, I didn’t know what was going on with you and it scared me.</p>
<p>“It scared me to think that I was losing you to Kingdom Hearts too.”</p>
<p>The air between them goes quiet. The distant sound of birds in the woods and the rustling of leaves is the only thing to break the silence, the quiet music of the night filling the chasm between them. Lea likes to think that they have filled it in completely, that the deafening silence of their past has finally left them, but at times like this he can feel that illusion crumbling. They’ve come closer, so much closer, but there is still a gap. And now Lea fears he may have dug it even deeper once again.</p>
<p>“Thank you for telling me,” Isa says. His voice is quiet, barely above a whisper. Lea almost thinks he has misheard, but then Isa continues. “It’s hard to hear, and hard to say I’m sure, but I’m glad I know. I want to know things like that.” When Isa looks up at Lea, there is nothing but love in his expression. Lea can’t breathe. “I’m not that person anymore. I know that and you know that. I don’t ever want to be that person again. The best way to avoid it is to know. So… thank you.”</p>
<p>These days, it seems that the slightest thing has Lea bursting into tears. Not that that’s all that new, but the return of it after years of feeling mostly numb is still startling. Lea hiccups, his vision blurring, and Isa smiles softly. He cups Lea’s face in both hands and swipes gently at the tears with his thumbs. A laugh tinges his voice as he speaks, “You really are still such a crybaby.”</p>
<p>“Shut up,” Lea mumbles. He can’t seem to stop the tears, but at least he has Isa here to cling to. Lea’s hands bunch in the front of Isa’s sweater. “It’s your fault, you jerk. You’re too nice.”</p>
<p>“I’m pretty sure that of the two of us, you’re the nice one.” Isa leans in to press a kiss to Lea’s forehead. They stay like that, close in the calm autumn night. The moonlight wraps around them, safety now without the darkness leaking in at the edges, and Lea pulls in a shaky breath. He’s safe. Isa is here and himself and he’s safe.</p>
<p>After a few more minutes, Isa pulls Lea to his feet. They clean up the blanket and dishes from their dinner picnic and head inside. Lea brushes up against Isa’s side as they walk, keeping close. They get everything put away and head into bed, a routine that has become more and more familiar as their life goes on. The moonlight filters through the window and sets Isa’s hair to silver and Lea sees it only as beautiful, the light of the moon wrapping his partner in an ethereal glow. Isa smiles and holds out his hand. Lea takes it and lets Isa pull him into bed.</p>
<p>The moon always reminds Lea of Isa. The gentle glow wraps around them both, as Isa wraps his arms around Lea and Lea breathes in, and falls in love all over again.</p>
  </div></div>
</body>
</html>